Vang Vieng

We arrived in Vang Vieng after a long and winding 5 hours journey from Luang Prabang. Considering it is only a 230km trip you can imagine how fast we were going! The trip itself was almost totally through mountains so we were either climbing up or going down hills al the time and passed at least 50 traditional Lao villages with houses built to within a few feet of the road.

The road itself, while mostly bitumen was at times hairy and the drivers on it were even worse but most interesting was our driver who could not speak a word of english! We had asked when we booked the special "Minibus" option about breaks and were told there would be stops every 30-40inutes....well 2.5 hours into the trip there had been no breaks and the way this guy drove I think we all needed a break. Anyway, Stephanie needed a toilet break so I relayed the request using the few Lao words we know (fortunately toilet is the same in Lao as it is in Thai). We received an instant response as we flew over the crest of a hill.

Right there and then the driver stopped on the side of the road, next to the 80 degree drop off the mountain and proceeded to go to the toilet himself. Stephanie and another of the travellers weren't too keen on this particular location and tried to speak to the driver but to no avail so Stephanie needed to find a not so private spot next to the road (and as far from the hill edge as she could). She was grateful that she was wearing a skirt and not long pants!

We made it to Vang Vien at about 4pm and went about the almost routine procedure for us now of finding a hostel, food, and any sightseeing options for the next few days.

We didn't originally plan to visit Vang Vieng however as we had a couple of spare days and we heard that there were great caves and river activities we decided to add it in.

Day 1 was a kayaking trip which started about 18km up-stream from the town and weaved its way back over some small rapids and with a few stops on the way. Each of the boys Kayaked with one of the guides while Stephanie and I were teamed together and let's just say that neither of us know that much about Kayaking!! We definately worked the hardest of any of the people in the trip - not because we intended to but simply because our Kayak continually was facing to one bank or another but rarely downstream. Im sure we travelled twice the distanceas everyone else as we weaved our way across the river in our attempt to go straight. Stephanie sampled the cool of the water once when we accidently turned sideways going down some rapids and she fell out.

After about 30 minutes paddling we stopped at a small cave called the Elephant cave. The cave itself was unspectacular but the break from our already sore arms was good. After that we went on for another hour or so before stoppiong for a BBQ lunch overlooking the river. Luke and I (David) crossed a traditional bamboo swinging bridge across the river (about 50 metres) which was an insightful look into Lao life .....only one person was allowed on at a time and even then it was a challenge.

After lunch we paddled on and finally started to cover the same area where many people do 'Tubing' (sitting in a large truck tyre tube and float downstream back to the town). Some entrenpenurial people have set up bars along the way as well as large swings and jumping platforms for people to jump into the river from. After a bit of consideration both boys and myself made our way up the 30 metre ladder to the platform perched in a tree and swung our way (hanging by our arms) back and forth over the river before dropping into it and then swimming back to do it all again. The boys loved it and went again and again and again and were delighted when we told them that Tubing was on our agenda for the next day and that they could do it again.

Back in the Kayaks and one final stop was at the 'Sleeping Cave' where up to 1000 Lao's hid in a throughout the Vietname war as their homeland was being ravaged by US bombs.

Something that we have learnt since being here is that over a 12 year period that the US airforce carried out sustained bombing missions on Laos not because they were at war with Laos (in fact that had a large Airbase right here in Vang Vieng) but because they wanted to stop the North Vietnamese from using it as a passage in the way. The outcome though is that Laos has the sad recored of being the most bombed country in History and even to this day farmers and children especially are still being maimed and killed but Unexploded ordinance (UXO) which based on current programs in place (of which I notice that the US are not involved in) is expectedto take 100 years to remove all the unexploded bombs!!!

After the sleeping cave it was back into the Kyaks for the last leg back to town.

The day was rewarding all round and the boys (courtesy of 'The Swing') have declared it the best day of our holidays so far.

Day two had a few things on the agenda.....first up was to buy our ticket to Vietianne and this time it is the VIP bus (one step down from the Minivan but hopefully more stops). From there we headed off to tubing with a stop on the way to an organic Mulberry farm.